Tribe Alive: Building Sustainable Global Partnerships and Empowering Women Through Ethical Fashion

My mother always says, “Everything happens for a reason” and she’s right. Or maybe I just read too many Thomas Hardy novels in high school and became a believer in fate and connections that materialize because they’re supposed to.

That’s how I met Tribe Alive.

A conference in fall of 2010 connected me with two incredible women who I made my first trip to Haiti with a year and a half later. Their friendship plus the fact that I fell in love with the country has kept me going back to continue to share the incredible handcrafts that Haitian artists are known for. My constant sharing of all things Haiti through social media led to a friend introducing me to her friend at Tribe Alive.

On a chilly December day, we met for coffee. I had already scoped out the site and was smitten with the designs- delicate beaded bracelets that I could add to my stack of arm candy that represented places I’ve traveled around the world, roomy weekenders that combined woven textiles and leather, and golden necklaces that could be worn together or separate. And all made with a mission to help women around the world to connect to a global marketplace.

All it took was “We want to be doing work in Haiti” for me to fall more in love with Tribe Alive.

Chances are I probably would have found Tribe Alive eventually but I’m glad I was introduced to them when I was.

Like Macy’s Heart of Haiti, fashionABLE, Global Goods Partners,To the Market, and so many other companies whose product lines I love, Tribe Alive works to build sustainable partnerships with women in developing countries whose work and training empowers them as independent business women all over the world.

I know from working with ONE that #PovertyIsSexist. Girls and women in the poorest countries are at a social, economic, and legal disadvantage when compared to men. Unless given the opportunity to go to school, own land, and earn an income, girls and women will always get a raw deal but companies like Tribe Alive are helping to change this for women around the world.

Inspired after the adoption of her little girl from Ethiopia, Tribe Alive founder, Carly Burson, was burdened by the fact that many women give up their children because they don’t have the means to raise them. When she left, she decided she wanted to take her experience from her career at J.Crew to create a company that empowered women to experience the joy of raising their children. Carly started working with women in Honduras and Guatemala to create beautiful textiles that embody rich, colorful, and unique patterns. Tribe Alive also has non-profit partners in Ethiopia, India, and Haiti.

What makes Tribe Alive special is that Carly designs each piece and then works hands on with artisan partners to empower them with the skills needed to create something beautiful. She’ll usually spend two or three weeks working in a country with the women in the villages when they’re collaborating on a new collection and the results are stunning!

This week Tribe Alive launched their summer line with new jewelry, handbags, apparel, accessories, footwear, and home products that have been featured throughout this post. Aren’t they pure eye candy?

With a wide variety of items available for a range of prices, Tribe Alive shows that ethical fashion can be beautiful and affordable as we make purchases to help women around the world through sustainable job creation that has real economic impact on nonprofit partners throughout the world.

How do I know?

I’m excited to share that my fated connection to Tribe Alive has resulted in a collaboration with artist friends in Haiti who are creating jewelry made from locally sourced materials like horn, clay and mixed metals and are hand sewing leather bags for Tribe’s fall collection! I can’t wait to see the gorgeousness this fall while purchasing products made by people whose lives I know are transformed through such partnerships.!

No compensation was received for this post. I’m just SO excited about Tribe Alive’s summer line and new partnership with Haitian artisans that I had to share the great work they’re doing to empower women through economic opportunity and the importance of buying their products to show your support. Images courtesy of Tribe Alive.